Purpose This study aims to evaluate the impact of entrepreneurship education (EE) on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of higher education students, as mediated by gender and family history. A survey tool for measuring EO was developed and used in one university. The responses were processed using statistical methods. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected with an online questionnaire distributed to students of engineering and business and social sciences in the past year of their degree program at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Some respondents had a class in entrepreneurship, while others did not have it. Findings The results highlight that EE generally has a greater impact on business and social sciences students. Family background and gender are moderating variables with a positive influence on individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO). Practical implications This study’s main practical implication is that evidence was found that universities need to develop more effective didactic approaches to EE. These must take into account new market demands and students’ profile and always taking into account their different academic areas and levels of previous EE. Originality/value This paper contributes to filling a gap in the literature by identifying the importance of EE, gender and family background to the development of IEO in students of different academic programs (i.e. engineering, business and social sciences).

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In Portugal, there is a diversified higher education system comprising some 160 institutions: universities, polytechnics and isolated schools, public or private, with a total enrolment of some 350,000 students. This article presents the analysis of the results of questionnaires which were completed in 2004 by students entering higher education for the first time so as to understand their perceived needs and aspirations and how they chose their institution/study programme. In the last few years, there has been a decline in the number of candidates to higher education — mainly due to demography — which created strong institutional competition. Therefore it is important to understand the reasons behind students' choices, perceived needs and aspirations and how students assess the capacity of different institutions/programmes to fulfil these. It is also relevant to understand how their choices may be conditioned by factors such as their socio‐economic and cultural background, employability prospects, other available information, gender and type of institution and study programme.

" "H Hi ig gh he er r e ed du uc ca at ti io on n ((r re el la at te ed d)) c ch ho oi ic ce es s i in n P Po or rt tu ug ga al l: : j jo oi in nt t d de ec ci is si io on ns s o on n i in ns st ti it tu ut ti io on n t ty yp pe e a an nd d l le ea av vi in ng g h ho om me e" " C Ca ar rl la a S Sá á D Di ia an na a A Am ma ad do o T Ta av va ar re es s E El ls sa a J Ju us st ti in no o A Al lb be er rt to o A Am ma ar ra al l NIPE WP 04/ 2010 " "H Hi ig gh he er r e ed du uc ca at ti io on n ((r re el la at te ed d)) c ch ho oi ic ce es s i in n P Po or rt tu ug ga al l: : j jo oi in nt t d de ec ci is si io on ns s o on n i in ns st ti it tu ut ti io on n t ty yp pe e a an nd d l le ea av vi in ng g h ho om me e" " C Ca ar rl la a S Sá á D Di ia an na a A Am ma ad do o T Ta av va ar re es s E El ls sa a J Ju us st ti in no o A Al lb be er rt to o A Am ma ar ra al l N NI IP PE E * *

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